final

Danial is reluctant to talk about himself, but eventually answers some questions after making you explain why you are asking each one. You learn that he drinks three to five highballs a day on weekends, “sometimes more, lots more once in awhile,” and that he has ongoing trouble with his family of origin, whom, he says, “tried to hold him hostage” to old country ways. He tells you his parents don’t understand him and are always “snooping” into his life, which is why he changes his cell phone every couple of months.

“Besides,” he adds sarcastically, “There are no gay Muslims, you know. My dad tells me that all the time.” He wags his head. “Hell, almost everyone at the firm is gay, and we come from all over the world. What’s he think—that Allah only makes Christians and atheists gay?”